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Martynas Pocius
Martynas Pocius (born April 28, 1986) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player, playing for Žalgiris Kaunas in the Euroleague, Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL), Baltic Basketball League (BBL) and VTB United League. He is also a member of the Lithuanian national basketball team. Early life and high school Martynas Pocius was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, to father Gintaras Pocius, a basketball coach, and mother Jurate, a physical education teacher. Pocius attended prestigious Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire, where he played on the basketball team in his last two years, leading the team to back-to-back New England Prep School Class C titles. In his first title run during the 2003-04 season, Pocius averaged 18 points and 4,5 rebounds, and led the team to a 17-7 record. In the 2004-05 season, Pocius averaged 18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and led the team to a 19-10 record. As senior, he was ranked 40th overall and 12th among shooting guards by Rivals.com and rated the 55th-top prospect (16th among shooting guards) by Scout.com. Pocius was also named to the World Select team for the 2005 Nike Hoops Summit, where he averaged a game high 20 points in a 106-98 loss to the USA. College career Aftr graduating from high school, Pocius committed to Duke University, where he played on the university's basketball team, coached by Mike Krzyzewski. As a freshman, Pocius appeared in 25 games, averaging 1.5 points and 0.3 rebounds in 6.1 minutes. In his sophomore year, Pocius increased his stats, averaging 1.9 points and 0.6 rebounds in 7.1 minutes in 27 games. Throughout the season he was battling an ankle injury, for which he missed four games. Pocius underwent a season-ending surgery on his left ankle on January 8 during his junior year. Due to the surgery he only played 4 games in which he averaged 4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 8 minutes. In his final season at Duke, Pocius played 22 games, averaging 1.5 points. He graduated from Duke in 2009 with a degree in international comparative studies. Professional career After graduating from Duke, Pocius chose to continue his basketball career in Europe. He went back to his home country, Lithuania, and signed a multi-year contract with Žalgiris Kaunas. In his debut season, Pocius averaged 8.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 16 games in the Euroleague. Although Žalgiris did not pass the Top 16 round, the team did perform better in their national and regional championships. Pocius led the team to the Baltic Basketball League (BBL) title, averaging 10,7 points, 2,9 rebounds and 0,9 assists. He also led the team to second place in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL), after losing the final's best-of-seven series 3-4. Pocius averaged 10,9 points, 2,6 rebounds and 1,8 assists in the season. Pocius also helped Žalgiris win second place in the Lithuanian Cup tournament and third place in the VTB United League. National team Pocius has played for Lithuania on several occasions. He played in the 2004 European U-18 Championship in Spain, where he showed himself as a team leader, averaging 18 points, 3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Pocius also represented Lithuania at the 2006 U-20 Championship in Turkey, where he led the team to a seventh-place finish, averaging 20 points per game. After his senior year at Duke, Pocius represented Lithuania at the 2009 Summer Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia, where he led the team to a fifth-place finish, averaging 13.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists. In 2010, Pocius made his debut on the Lithuanian men's national basketball team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey, where he surprisingly became one of the team's leader and helped lead the team to the bronze medal. Awards and honors * BBL Champion: 2010 External links * Euroleague.net Profile * FIBA.com Profile * * Duke University Men's Basketball team biography Category:Duke players Category:Lithuanian basketball players